“I suddenly realised that the devout Russian people no longer needed priest to pray them to heaven. On earth they were building a kingdom more bright than any heaven had to offer, and for which it was a glory to die.”
–John Reed
John Reed, the revolutionary American writer, journalist and socialist activist, was born on this day, i.e., 22 October 1887. He is best known for his works on the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. He is most known for his work, “Ten Days That Shook the World.” The historical account of the revolution in this particular book has had a large impact on those who’ve read it in the U.S and beyond. Decades later, Warren Beatty made it into a movie, Reds, in which most electrifying sections were the appearances by witnesses who had known Reed.
John Reed died young, contracting typhus and passing away in Moscow on October 20, 1920 at the age 33. He was buried in Moscow’s Red Square. The day of his funeral was declared a national holiday in Soviet Union.